Her unnatural tan shocked the world as much as the allegations that she took her five-year-old daughter into a sunbed booth, but new photos have revealed what 'tanning mom' looked like before she bombarded her skin with ultraviolet rays.

In a series of monochrome shots taken in her twenties, Patricia Krentcil has a fresh-faced appearance and a smooth, clear complexion.

The cleavage-baring swimwear photos are thought to have been snapped as she tried to break into the world of glamour modelling.

The shots serve as evidence of how the 44-year-old's excessive tanning habit has affected her skin over the past two decades.